Beds and Everything
It turned out the hotel was relatively close to where they’d started their walk, for which Terry was thankful. Elton walked under his own power, but barely. When they saw the hotel though, Terry thought Elton had steered them wrong.
“Elton, are you sure this is the place? It looks pretty expensive.”
It was huge. A great, white fin overlooking the river. It was thirty stories if it was an inch.
“At’s the one. . .” Elton slurred with a smile. “Nuttin’ but the best fer my friends.”
Terry marveled at the thing. St. Patrick’s wasn’t remotely this big. And he was supposed to sleep in this thing? Delores came up along beside them.
“This is bougie.” She said. “It probably actually has beds and everything. You sure you can afford this, Elton?”
He held up a hand and snapped his fingers like that meant something and they continued on through the parking lot.
“What about our stuff?” Terry asked.
“Brought it over. S’in the rooms. Thunder followed me like a good dog. ‘S in the garage.”
Terry realized Elton was becoming less verbal and seemed to be getting sleepy. They needed to get him in a bed so Terry could have a chance to think about some things. He wished Elton hadn’t done this. He needed to talk to someone and didn’t want to keep bothering Delores.
They walked up to the desk and the woman behind the counter gave Terry an appraising look. Whatever she decided on, it wasn’t pleasant. Then she looked at Elton. Particularly the boob hat.
She turned to Delores.
“Welcome! What can I do for you?” the woman said with an overly practiced smile.
Delores smiled back with the same level of practice.
“We have reservations under Elton Beasley. We’d like to get our keys?”
The woman typed in a way that Terry would describe as “crisp” and handed the three key cards to Delores. She smiled that smile again.
“Fifteenth floor. You’re in room twelve, ma’am. The. . . boys. . . are in room ten. If you need absolutely anything, please let us know.” Terry didn’t see how her skin didn’t split from holding on to that grin.
By that point, Delores had to take Elton’s other arm over her shoulder. They got him to the elevator and headed up.
“I can’t believe he drank this much.” Delores said quietly. The elevator was a small one.
“I can.” Terry said. “I don’t think Elton wants to talk about it, but he said we’re all he has, D. I think this is the only way he knows how to cope. We need to be here for him.”
They both fell silent. As always, Terry felt better with someone else to worry about.
They reached their floor and with Delores’s help Terry managed to get Elton into room ten. He plopped Elton into the double sized bed. Terry straightened and popped his own back. He saw Delores set their keys down on the table beneath the TV. He’d have to remember to grab his in case he went out.
“Thanks for the help Delores. With Elton. And earlier.”
Delores looked at Elton for a long moment, before walking up and hugging Terry. He put his arms around her and squeezed. He heard her muffled voice from his chest.
“If you need to talk, I’m right next door, ok?”
He nodded.
“Maybe later tonight. Thank you.”
Delores kissed his cheek before she stepped back and looked at Elton.
“You might want to roll him on his stomach, hang his head off the side, and put a garbage can under his face.”
“Why?” Terry asked, legitimately curious. She just gave him a warning look.
“When it happens, you’ll know.”
After that she smiled and left the room. Terry decided to go ahead and do what she suggested. He rolled Elton over and positioned him. Once he saw it, he understood. Silently, he thanked God he had Delores with him. He sat down on what he guessed would be his side of the bed and sighed. He thought for a long time. Now that he was with his friends again, he could look back on the day more objectively. What he saw frightened him.
After the meeting, after going into the bar, after the fight he knew he’d find there, the idea had hit him. He was ashamed of it. Deeply so. He hadn’t told Delores about it. Terry didn’t like to burden people with his problems. Especially not this one. Sitting there on that bench, he could see his life turning. Even now, with friends, he didn’t know if there was a point. He’d thought about getting off the ride.
It’d seemed the only solution he could come up with. He kept thinking about how that might effect his friends. He’d told himself that they’d get over it. They were good people. Better people than him. Certainly more normal. He wouldn’t have to deal with all this any more. This must have been what his father saw, looking forward without his mother. Terry understood how he could have left him like that now. His father thought that he’d be better off with someone that could still feel.
Terry buried his face in his hands and just remembered Delores showing up and, with a few words, she’d swept the darkness away and reminded him of all the reasons he’d been doing what he was doing. He’d needed someone else to remind him. He felt ashamed all over again.
“Terry?” It was Elton. He turned to the bard.
“Yeah, buddy? You ok?”
“I think so.” He didn’t sound ok. “I’m going to need some ice later. Can you find the ice machine on this floor? I might need to send you for some later.”
Terry reached over and patted his shoulder.
“Of course. Anything you need.” He stood and was thankful for the distraction. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked out and went on a quest he thought he could actually accomplish.
The minute Terry left the room, Elton sprang into action. He jumped up, very carefully, and grabbed the two key cards and stuck them in his pocket. He checked the door and made sure it was locked on his side and locked the security bar in place. He checked his closet and, sure enough, Terry’s stuff was NOT there. Good. He knew the woman at the front would assume the two guys would be in a room together. Again, just according to keikaku.
He wasn’t a fan of play acting to be drunker than he was, but it felt like the easiest thing to do. The walk to the Audubon had sobered him up enough to know he had to act a lot drunker than he was. He heard their short talk in the elevator. He stood there for a moment. Terry knew. Of course he knew. He was the hero. Elton felt himself tearing up and forced himself to not think about it.
Satisfied that phase one of “The Plan V. 2.4” was going well, he laid on the bed, turned on the TV, and started channel surfing with the volume down.
Then he remembered the garbage can beside the bed and immediately made use of it.
Terry did, in fact, find the ice machine. It was at the end of the hall in an alcove by some windows, along with some vending machines. He could tell this was a nice hotel. All three of the machines worked. He got a Coke and downed it quickly to get some caffeine in his system. He then stood there trying to get the burps out as fast as he could. That noble task accomplished, he made the walk back to room 1510.
The door wouldn’t open. He reached for his key card. It was still on the table in the room. He knocked softly.
“Elton? Hey buddy. I forgot my key.” No response. He knocked harder.
“Elton?” a bit louder than before. “Elton, open the door.” He pounded on the door and was about to yell, when a door down the hall opened and a head peaked out. Terry immediately stopped and held his hands up, looking at the person.
“Sorry.” He said quietly.
Crap. Could he go to the front desk and get a new key? Would they do that for a knight? He remembered the look on the woman’s face. He remembered the rest of New Orleans. Maybe Delores could. He really didn’t want to bother her, though. She’d already done so much for him today that he felt like he’d be imposing. The girl was being entirely too sweet to him.
He thought about sitting down, right there in the floor and putting his back to the door and sleeping there. It would be a form of protest of the way knights were treated. It would make Elton feel guilty about not waking up and answering the door. It would-This is incredibly stupid, he thought. He was pouting like a child and he wasn’t about to put up with it from himself. Not any more. He’d go see Delores. At least they could talk and he could wake Elton up later.
He took the three steps to her door, straightened his coat and tabbard, and knocked. Lightly. The door cracked a bit and her face peaked from around the door.
“Yeah? Oh. Hey. You’re, uh, earlier than I thought you’d be.” She said.
“Hey.” He waved. He suddenly felt stupid. “I, uh, I forgot my key card and Elton’s out like a light. Can I come in for a little while? I can try waking him up again later. Maybe we can talk till then?”
She seemed nervous. Why was she nervous? Her eyes were huge. She didn’t answer for a minute as they both stared at each other. Terry was starting to feel uncomfortable, when she seemed to come back to herself suddenly.
“Yeah! Yes. Of course. I’d like that.” She opened the door and stood behind it, peaking around at him. She had a very small smile on her face.
“Thanks.” He said with a smile, and walked into the room. She was being weird. “Elton sent me to find the ice machine and I just forgot my key card and. . .”
He turned around to face her at the click of the door and froze. He stared.
“I should have asked if you were decent.” He whispered.
She stood there wearing what he could only assume she’d worn in the sleeping bag the previous night. It WAS a silk tank top of some form with a lace cut out at the top, and matching tiny sleep shorts. She was hugging her own arms with her back against the door. She had her head turned and tilted in such a way that she was looking at him through her eyelashes. He’d never seen that much skin on a grown woman. He’d never seen anything so beautiful.
“Stop blushing, Terry. We’re both adults here.” She said. Normally her little admonishments about these sorts of things sounded put-upon. This time, she was having trouble mustering anything other than nervousness.
Terry realized his inner monologue had stopped dead as soon as he’d turned around. When it came back he was wrestling with it to stop putting the word “flesh” in his mind. He was actually VERY aware of the fact that they were both adults.
She walked from the door over to the bed very slowly and very deliberately, and sat down. He just watched. Then the chivalrous knight in him took over.
“I’m sorry. I-I’ll go.” He started for the door. “I’ll wait in the lobby until either Elton wakes up or-“
“Terry.”
She said it so softly that it cut him off, stopped every thought in his head, and his legs stopped moving. He turned his head slowly to face her.
“You don’t have to go.” She said. Again, it was so soft it felt like a finger running up his spine. It felt like her asking.
“I.” He got out. He tried again. “I should go.”
She tilted her head and looked down, a very small smile on her face.
“Your things are already here.” She said.
“What.” He didn’t ask. It came out flat like a statement. She looked up at him.
“I was going through my things and I saw your saddle bags in the closet next to my things. I knew you’d be here. I just thought, well, later.”
He slowly took a step to the closet door without taking his eyes off of her. He slid the door open carefully and, sure enough, there were his bags from Thunder on the closet floor. He looked back up at her. She smiled again.
“I don’t know if it was a mistake or Elton did this on purpose or what. But you don’t have to go. Unless you want to, of course.”
He didn’t. He knew without a doubt that he didn’t want to leave. While he thought that, she continued.
“I’d like for you to stay. I’m, uh, not expecting anything from you, Terry. I don’t want anything that-OH GOD that sounds so much worse out loud.” She dropped her head and shook it before looking back up at him. “Terry, I want you to stay. Here. With me. I-“ She paused. “I slept better last night than I have in ages. Will you stay with me tonight?”
And there it was. Terry closed his eyes. There was no way he could say no to her. There were very few things she could ask him for that he would say no to. He wasn’t sure at what point he’d decided that, but it was the truth.
“Yes.” He said. “Of course I will.”
He took his coat off and hung it in the closet, keeping a tight reign on his muscles and hoping he didn’t shake. When he looked back from doing so, she was already standing there in front of him. Her smile was huge. She hugged him. He hugged back, but carefully. His arms were now covered in exposed plate armor, and she wore distressingly little. His hands touched bare skin and he tried very hard not to think about that. She looked up at him.
“Thank you, Terry. We need to get you out of that armor.” She said.